Approaches to Curriculum Design

A. Models of Curriculum Design Language Curriculum Design Model - Environment Analysis - Needs Analysis - Principles - Goals - Content and Sequencing - Format and Presentation - Monitoring and Assessment - Evaluation B. Starting Points 1. Curriculum designers and teachers can start from nothing and gather and write the material. The curriculum designer or teacher is thus responsible for all parts of the curriculum design process. 2. Curriculum designers and teachers can draw on a bank of existing materials from which they select the most appropriate material for the course. A bank could include : * Copies of activities prepared by themselves or teacher * Published supplementary materials such as graded readers, grammar activity books, conversation texts. * Clipping from newspaper or magazines, recording from tv 3. Some curriculum statements and some course books deliberately provide only some of the material needed for a complete course. Curriculum statements usually provide the content and sequencing, goals and assessments parts of the course, and leave it to the teacher to decide on the materials to use to deal with format and presentation. 4. The teacher chooses a published course book and uses that as the only materials or the main material for the course. C. The Process of Curriculum Design 1. A waterfall model STEPS IN CURRICULUM DESIGN Goals 1. List the goals and objectives for each lesson and the course Content and Sequencing 1. Decide on the number and size of lessons or units 2. Choose the ideas content 3. Choose the language content - Start from learners present proficiency and wants - Choose regular, frequent language items where possible - Check on the proportion of the four stands - Check that there is the best coverage of the needed language 4. Sequence the language items - Start with the items learners will find most useful and learners will be the most successful with - Separate opposites and other closely related items

- Space and vary the repositions 5. Divide the language and ideas content into lesson units - Allow for the same items to occur in different units to get repetition Format and Presentation 1. Decide on the form in which the material will appear - Consider the size and cost - Consider how much detail must be provided for the teacher 2. Choose suitable activities - Consider the proportions of the four strands - Consider adaptability to class size and levels of proficiency - Consider learner and teacher training needs 3. Decide on the lesson format - Fit the activities to the lesson length - Sequence the activities 4. Produce the material 5. Prepare a teachers and learners guide Monitoring, assessing and evaluating 1. Decide how each objective will be observed and/or measured 2. Decide how the goals for the course will be monitored 3. Decide how to evaluate the course and revise it on the basis of the evaluation